It’s always something. Week after week, as we dive deeper into the Word of God, we get a glimpse of how far we’ve strayed from the truth. It’s not difficult to completely change the meaning of Y’shua’s teachings by strategically leaving out a few words here and there. You think I’m exaggerating? I challenge you; look up Matthew 5:33-34 in any English translation of the Bible and tell me if you don’t conclude that you are no longer to swear an oath to God!
Take a look: “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all…” Now, notice a completely different message when we add back the original language: “Again you have heard what was said to those of long ago: You shall not swear by my name falsely, but you shall return to the Lord your oath. But I say to you not to swear in vain in any matter…”
Do you see it? Y’shua never instructed us to NO LONGER take oaths to God, but rather to end your futile thinking that you can leave Yahweh’s name out of your promises. That is what Y’shua called “swearing in vain!” Leave out the phrases “by my name” and “in vain” and you have an utterly different message.
“You have heard that it was said…” and then Y’shua quotes Leviticus 19:12; “And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am Yahweh.” And the vanity reference was to bring you right back to the third commandment in Exodus 20:7: “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” I’ll let you in on a little secret. Vanity is not a reference to curse words, but rather the devastating practice of forgetting His name, or in other words, leaving His name out of your life! That is why you are warned to never exclude His name from an oath!
It makes more sense now, doesn’t it? You see, what they were doing back then is swearing on all sorts of things, while they crossed their fingers behind their backs. No big deal, as long as you leave out God’s name. That’s how far they had fallen. And we, as the church, just shot all the way to the other end of the deception spectrum. We simply stopped making oaths altogether! So, let’s make it simple. Just do what you say you will do, as if your entire life is dedicated to Yahweh. I like to say it like this…” Freedom is when you have no other options!” Think about it the next time you make a promise!
Leave A Comment